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Samuel L. Jackson stars in the movie adaptation of ‘KITE’

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Yasuomi Umetsu’s Kitewas a cutting edge anime that skirts
the definition of hentai as it tells the story of
young assassins in a futuristic city. Samuel
L. Jackson is a fan. “I’vealways liked the story, I’ve watched it for
years. When I heard [David Ellis] was doing it I was like, ‘Tell him I’d like
to be a part of it’.” However, Ellis passed away before the project could
really take off. Jackson stayed anyway. “When
I commit to a project I kinda see it through, so I stayed. I’m glad I did.”

Jackson plays the
anglicized version of Mr Akai (now Karl Aker) – the cop who takes in orphaned
Sawa, played by India Eisley, and makes her into a deadly weapon. The
relationship between Sawa and Aker is a complex one and, in the anime, sexual
and dark, but what translates into the movie was up for questioning. Jackson
wasn’t sure exactly what the original intention was but he was ready for
anything. “They didn’t tell it as hard as
I wanted to tell it… I’m always of the mind that – look you knew what you were
choosing when you chose it. I knew what I was stepping into because I’m very
familiar with the story. I’m willing to do what the story’s about… I like
dark.”

Over the years he’s
certainly proved that with his choices of roles, and Karl Akers is sure to be
one of the darker parts in a distinguished career of making characters his own.
However the Mr Akai part is very distinctive itself, and there were aspects of
the original that Jackson chose to keep. “I
wanted to keep the steel that is his personality and the toughness and the
deviousness of him. I tried to make them real human traits that aren’t props.”
Yet he wanted Akers to be real too. “He’s that guy. He’s in that place and he
uses subterfuge and lies to get things done.”

Akers
sounds like a man who fits well into the darkness Jackson embraced for this
film. Dark though the plot of girl assassins and corrupt men may be, what
Jackson did to build something emotionally with India Eisley and her character
Sawa. “I focused more on my relationship
with her, and how to keep it honest, in whatever honesty a person like that can
have, and trying to keep her comfortable. It was really important that I keep
her comfortable and help her get through whatever she’s trying to get through,”
Jackson said, basically being nothing like his character.